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I flicked him a look, and he gave me a slight grin and another nod.
His sister was rooted in place, her eyes blinking as if she thought I was a mirage.
There was a brief moment where no one said anything more.
Shark’s head was jerking from Rowdy to Tina, to me, to Brett, to me, and back to his friends. He scowled. “I don’t know you.”
Tina cleared her throat, and she took a long jerking step toward me, saying softly, “This here’s—”
“I’m a cheerleader for the Kings football team,” I said quickly.
Shark continued to look at me as if I told him I had three breasts. Oddly intrigued, but he cast Brett a nervous look.
“And cheerleaders aren’t supposed to date the players. It’s against policy so I could get fired. That’s why we’re here. We’re dating in secret.” I didn’t want to see the weirdness that came over people when they found out the truth, just like how Rowdy and Tina reacted. I caught the sympathy in both of their gazes. Sympathy or pity, sometimes I couldn’t decipher between them, and I got tired of it. It was easier this way.
I sent both a silent pleading look, just one, and it was short.
Shark had to ponder on my statement before he burst out, “Well, what the fuck do they know? They can’t tell you who you can fuck or not fuck—”
Rowdy added, “They’re dating.”
“—date, fuck, it’s all the same. It’s none of their goddamn fucking shitting damn business.” He loped to me and threw an arm around my shoulders. He squeezed me to him in a half hug. “You and your man can party here any time you want. Drinks are on the house—”
“They are not.” Tina gave him a scathing glare.
“—tonight, drinks are on the house—”
“They are also not.” Tina yanked him off me, shoving him back, that glare still in force. It changed to a polite smile as she said to me, “But for you and your date tonight, that is on me.”
“Tina,” Shark leaned forward.
Her voice rose sharply, “—and they’re only for our two surprise guests of honor. Anything you’d like for drinks? And I would love the opportunity to make you dinner of my choosing. If you’d like, of course?”
Rowdy said, his voice proud, “My sister studied under a Michelin chef. She was overseas and working on giant yachts for the one percent in the world before she decided to come back and try her hand with this little gem.” He gestured to the sign that had the title of the eatery. “Rinascita. That’s Italian for rebirth.” His eyes fell back to his sister, warming. “That’s our little Tina. We’re real proud of her.”
The two shared a look before Tina flicked at something on her cheek, clearing her throat again. “And enough of the sappy moments, your dinner? Would you like to trust me?”
Brett’s arm went back around me, anchoring me to him. “We’d love that.”
Shark’s chin lifted all the way up, as far as he could go. “You want anything else? It’s our pleasure having you both here.”
Brett glanced over my head, hardening. I didn’t need to guess to know who he was looking at.
He answered, his tone hard, “I’d like that guy kept away. He’s going to be trouble later on.”
“Consider him out of here. Let’s go, boys!” Shark flew a hand in the air, and at the motion, a bunch of the bikers converged with him. The two who’d been overlooking the board games came over as well, all disappearing around the other side of Rinascita. We heard raised voices not long after, and the bikers escorted that guy and a couple of his other friends from the premises.
Rowdy laughed before raising his beer to his mouth. “That was more for us. We’ve been wanting an excuse to kick those fuckers out of here. It would’ve been now or later, and later it would’ve been a lot bloodier. You did us a favor.” He tipped his beer back, taking a drag from it before jerking his head to the tables behind him. “You’re more than welcome to join us or go ahead and grab your own table. We won’t bother you. More just excited that you’re here at my sister’s place of business. And thank you for letting her choose the dish for you. She’s going to go all out. It’ll be the best you’ve had, and Shark’s invitation stands. You’re always welcome here. You won’t be bothered by jerkfaces like us. It’s out of Shark’s system. He’s like a bulldog. Once he decides he likes you, he’s all happy and giddy around you, but make no doubt, he’ll turn rottweiler real fucking quick to have your back.” He gave us both a wink. “He’s going to be worked up about the injustice of cheerleaders and football players not being able to date for the next week. I’ll fill everyone in. We’ll all enjoy while he gets himself riled up about it. Have a good night.”
He returned to their table.
A few of the others gave polite nods, smiles, or a couple held up a hand in wave.
We were left to ourselves after that. Though Shark circled around us a few times when the dancers migrated closer to our table than he would’ve wanted. Once they dispersed, he wandered back to where the rest of their group partied the rest of the night.
The food Tina prepared was some of the best I’d ever experienced, and it was an experience. Four courses. I was blown away.
The first was a butternut squash ravioli with some type of butter drizzled over it. My mouth was watering as she did the drizzling in front of us. I also blanked at listening to her because I was that hungry.
